Improvement in reaping and mowing machines



vCANFIELDfCOILEMAN & WHEELER.

Reapng and Mowing Machine.

Patented March 13, 1866.

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W/ Tf1/frown" ma ew@ NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. M. cANEIELD, H. E. coLEMAN, AND E. r. WHEELER, on LAWRENCE, KANsAs.

IMPROVEMENT IN RKEAPING AND MOWING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 53,110, dated March 13,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES M. GANFIELD, H. E. COLEMAN, and E. P.WHEELER, of Lawrence, in the county of Douglas and State of Kansas, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Reapers and Mowers; and we dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the saine, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and the letters and figures marked thereon, which form part ofthis specification.

The nature of our said invention consists in a novel arrangement ofmeans for imparting motion to the sickle, and for throwing1 the sameinto and out of gear, as hereinafter fully specified.

To enable those skilled in the art to understand how to construct anduse our invention, we will proceed to describe the same withparticularity, making reference in so doing to the aforesaid drawings,in which- Figure l represents -a plan or top view of our invention; Fig.2, a side elevation of the same; and Fig. 3, a section ot' thedriving-wheel, showing the arrangement of the cams for driving thesickle.

Similar letters of reference in the different figures indicate likeparts of our invention.

A B represent the wheels which support the main frame of the machine, Abeing the drive-wheel for operating the sickle, as hereinafterdescribed. G is the axle of the machine, upon which said wheels A Brevolve. D is t-he pole to which the draft is applied, iixed at its rearend to the axle C, and E is a platform suspended, as shown, from andbeneath the axle by means of the straps or collars e e e. Upon the rearend of said platform, and behind its support upon the axle (l, the seatS for the driver is arranged, as shown, and to the front end of the saidplatform is attached the sickle-bar, as shown, in such a manner thatwhen not in use the sicklebar and sickle may be turned up and back uponthe machine, so as to be out of the way when moving from place to place.

F represents a lever, attached at its front end to the sickle by meansof the bar or rod N, and pivoted or fulcrumed to the platform by thebolt b, which passes through a slot in said platform,so that while saidbolt forms a fixed point about which the lever moves laterally, the saidlever has a reciprocating motion, when desired, from front to rear inthe said slot, which is to enable the sickle to be thrown into or out ofgear, as hereinafter described, which is effected by means of the arm I,beneath the platform, pivoted at one end at c, the other end beingconnected, by the rod J, tothe lever K, near the drivers seat. As thebolt b passes through the arm I a backward motion of the lever K impartsa corresponding movement to the lever F, and vice versa.

At each side of the lever F, and at its rear end, are attached thefingers G, whose ends curve or bend in beneath the rim or tire of thedrive-wheel and rest upon or against the cams a, so that by therevolution of said drivewheel and the action of said cams the lever F isoscillated about the point b, givin g the appropriate reciprocatingmovement to the sickle. By drawing back the lever K the fingers G aremoved back lfrom the cams a, and the sickle stops.

lo the frame or platform E there is at tached a cord, (marked L,) whichpasses over a suitable pulley or bearing upon the draftpole D, and thengoes back and is attached to the lever M near the drivers. seat, asshown, so that by a backward movement of said lever M the front end 'ofthe platform E and the sickle may be raised up from the ground whendesired, as the machine is moving along over the ground, so as to adaptthe machine to irregularities in and stones orother obstructions uponthe ground, as occasion may require. Having described our invention, wewill now specify what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. The combination and arrangement of the lever F, provided with itsmovable fulcrum b, the fingers G G, the drive-wheel A, with its cams a,and the pitman-rod N, arranged and operating as and for the purposesspecified.

2. The combination and arrangement of the lever F, bolt b, arm I, rod J,and lever K, arranged and operating as and for the purposes herein setforth and shown.

H. E. COLEMAN. JAMES M. OANFIELD. EDWARD P. WHEELER. In presence of- E.V. BANKS, GEO. O. BANKS.

